The Colombian Genova is a very regional sausage in Colombia with Italian roots from the Port city of Genoa. This sausage is usually a poached sausage but can be prepared any number of ways. In today’s post we take this beautiful sausage and elevate it’s flavor by double smoking it (totally optional but 100% worth it!!)
Follow basic smoked sausage preparation practices when making this sausage.
- Clean and sanitize all of your equipment before and after use
- Prepare your casings a day in advance and let them soak in the refrigerator.
- Keep your meat and grinder parts super cold (below 34F or 1c) at all times.
- Mix your very chilled meat (under 34f or 1c), liquid, and seasonings till the mince becomes very tacky.
- Stuff the mince into your sausage casings and prick out any air pockets.
- If you plan on using a curing salt let your sausage rest in the refrigerator overnight to allow the cure to work.
- The next day follow a low and slow smoking schedule.
- Cook sausage till you reach your desired cooking temperature
- Once the internal temp has been reached place the sausages in a cold-water bath to cool down and let them bloom at room temperature for 3-4 hours
Here are a few things you might find useful when making a smoked sausage.
- SavorYe Flavor Booster
- Digital Smokers (I use the model 4D Pro-series WiFi)
- Bella’s Cold Smoke Generator
- High Quality Natural Casings (AA Grade)
- Non Fat Dry Milk (Binder for better texture and moisture retention)
- Potato Starch (Binder for better texture and moisture retention)
- Insta Cure #1
- Eco Cure #1 (A Nitrite free alternative to curing your meat)
- Cure Accelerator
- Thermapen ONE (Accurate Thermometer)
- Sausage Pricker
- Kotai Chef Knife
- Sausage Stuffers
- Meat Grinder
- Meat Mixers
- Stuffing Horn Cleaner
- Butcher Twine & Dispenser
- Small accurate Scale for spices
- Large Capacity Scale (33 pounds)
- Drying rack and tray
- Custom Cutting Board
- Jende Lapping plate for sharpening our grinder plates and knife
Enjoy the video and the recipe. If you have any questions, feel free to ask away.
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Colombian Genova Sausage
Italian inspired and adapted to the region
How much do you want to make? 1000 grams
Ingredients
- 1000 g fatty pork shoulder you are looking for a 70/30 lean to fat ratio
- 18 g kosher salt
- 7 g savorye
- 2.5 g insta cure #1
- 4 g cumin powder
- 4 g black pepper
- 5 g paprika
- 4 g annato powder
- 4 g fennel pollen the original herb that is used is called poleo
- 4 g fresh mint chopped
- 4 g fresh parsley chopped
- 40 g potato starch
For the vegetable Slurry
- 75 g raw white onion rough chopped
- 75 g raw red bell pepper rough chopped
- 45 g raw garlic
- 4 g habanero pepper or to taste
- 60 ml water
- hog casings 29-32mm
Instructions
Prepare the casings
- Rinse off the salt and flush the casings with some cool water. Place the cleaned casings in some fresh water with some baking soda in it (I use 1 tsp per quart of water) and place in the refrigerator. If you let your casings soak for at least 12 hours, they will be nice and tender by the time you use them.
Create the Slurry
- In a blender combine the onion, bell pepper, garlic, habanero, and water. Blend till smooth. Pour into a container and set to the side
Prepare the Meat
- Clean meat from any silver skin and arteries and cut into small chunks or strips. Chill the meat and the fat so that the temperature is below 34f (1.1c)
- Grind chilled meat and fat on a medium course plate (6mm). Rechill. Keep the temp under 34f (1.1c)
- Add the rest of the ingredients (spices, vegetable slurry, binder) to the meat and mix till the meat turns into a sticky batter. The meat mixture will stick to your hand when you grab a small handful of it and turn your hand upside down.
- Stuff mixture in your casings and link. This sausage is linked in small 1.5 inch-2 inch long little sausage. Tie them off with butchers twine to keep their shape. Prick out any air pockets in your sausage
- Place the sausage in your refrigerator overnight so that the cure can do its job
Cooking/Smoking this sausage
- The following day I like to start with a very low temp smoke in my smokin-it smoker. This is completely optional but I like the layers of flavor that it adds. I will set my smoker to 125f ( 51.6c) and smoke for 90 minutes.
- Once I have finished smoking these sausage I will transfer them to a preheated pot of water. The temperature of the water is between 160f and 175f (71.1c-79.4c). Here I will poach this sausage till I reach an internal temperature of 150f (65.5c).
- Once the sausage has reached it's target temperature I will remove them from the poaching liquid and place them in a cool water bath for rapid cooling.
- After this sausage has finished cooling I'll place them back in the smoker but this time I do a true cold smoke (temperature is under 85f or 29c) for 2 hours but this is a personal preference. You can do more, less, or even omit the smoking all together.
- Enjoy this sausage cold with a squeeze of lime juice or heat them back up for a true Colombian treat!!
Storage Instructions
- For long term storage, place the sausages in a vacuum sealed bag and freeze. They will last up to a year in the freezer.
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